Prof Brian E M King
Prof Amran Hamzah
KUCHING: Developing a leisure corridor stretching from the city to Sarawak Cultural Village could make the city more vibrant for the tourism industry.
This opinion was expressed by Professor Amran Hamzah, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Centre for Innovative Planning and Development director, and one of the authors of the dossier for Malacca and George Town’s inscription on Unesco’s World Heritage List.
He said this on the second day of the Global Tourism Cities Conference (GTCC) 2013 in response to a question from a delegate on how Kuching could have its vibrancy as a tourism destination increased seeing that it did not seem to have made as much headway as Malacca and Penang despite similarities in size, history and old world charm.
Amran said the trend of building shopping malls on the outskirts of the city had caused residents to move away from the city centre, rather than into it. He felt the city had lost some vibrancy due to local patronage being directed outwards.
He highlighted the limited variety in tourist attractions and the disappearance of specialty shops such as those with the Unesco seal of excellence for crafts; adding that it would be difficult for specialty shops to survive on domestic tourists
alone as they appeared more interested in things like kek lapis, tikar and boat rides across the river.
“I think we should develop Kuching as a leisure corridor right up to Sarawak Cultural Village. A lot of revitalisation is needed – you have to spread out the attractions so they won’t be concentrated in Kuching only.
“Pantai Damai needs revitalisation. There should be a real touch of urban leisure to increase variety,” he said.
Noting the difficulty and high cost of conserving historical buildings in Malaysia, Amran said it was important to identify the iconic value of a place to bring in investors, and that the state government should take the lead
to turn historic buildings into iconic tourism places, enlist community support, and get investors to finance these initiatives.
Earlier Amran spoke about the importance of developing urban tourism products using lessons drawn from the reuse of historical buildings in Malacca and Penang.
Associate dean Prof Brian E M King from Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management presented a paper on how to use events and festivities to provide rewarding urban experiences.
Drawing from Melbourne’s experience, he highlighted the role of local communities in adding to positive visitor experiences, and thus the importance of getting them to support, feel a part of, and advocate tourism-related events and festivals.
He emphasised that managing tourism and events required a collaborative model for stakeholders at city, state and national levels.
The two-day GTCC 2013 was organised by Kuala Lumpur Tourism Association and Confexhub Group. The event’s co-sponsor was Sarawak Tourism Board.